Semi Final 2012
West Coast kicked the first four goals of the match and held a slender 11 point lead going into half-time, but Magpie Dale Thomas kicked three goals in the first few minutes of the third term to wrest control of the match. From there it was an arm wrestle to the finish, with Collingwood prevailing by 13 points to bring West Coast's season to an end. Veteran Daniel Kerr and youngster Andrew Gaff worked hard for West Coast. Summary Goals: 'Darling, Hill 2, Cox, Kennedy, Kerr, McGinnity, Naitanui '''Best: '''Gaff, Kerr, Cox, Glass, MacKenzie, Priddis '''Injuries: '''Nil '''Sub: '''Rosa for Lynch in the third quarter '''Milestones: '''Lynch final appearance Named sides In: Rosa Out: Waters (foot) Club Champion votes From the coach "Overall, the game was on the line with 10 minutes to go. There was a real fine line with a couple of things that happened that went their way, not our way, whether it be the bounce of the ball - critical. You know, it was just almost out and we were away versus them getting it and they grabbed that opportunity right at that time and it gave them enough of a lead. "...I've been in the game long enough to know that maybe a 10-goal lead might be enough, but even then there's a lot of game to play. So it was a good start by us, then the game tightened up and it was a tight, tough game pretty much for the majority of it. "...Probably (needed to be) a little bit cleaner at stoppages, we just didn't get some clean ball out of some of the stoppages. There were a lot of stoppages, I think, in the last quarter and opportunities to get out and go forward we didn't really get enough of."''The West Australian (17 September 2012, p.GAM12), "Word for word" From the papers The West Australian "The match became a finals midfield scrap, punctuated by the dominant defence of Darren Glass and Eric MacKenzie at one end and the utter dominance of Ben Reid and Magpie teammate, rebounder Heath Shaw, at the other. There were two mini run-ons; the Eagles kicked four straight goals at the start of the match. Then came Thomas with a three-goal burst at the start of the second half. The Magpies fought the entire first half trying to cancel out the Eagles' start. The Eagles spent the entire second half trying to reverse the impetus conceded by Thomas' brilliance."Mark Duffield, The West Australian (17 September 2012, p.GAM6), "Jolly good show for the Pies" The Age "Things couldn't possibly have started any more promisingly for the Eagles, four goals to the Magpies' zip after 15 minutes. Jack Darling had the first after a free kick against Heath Shaw for impeding his run. The second after a fumble by Collingwood veteran Chris Tarrant, with Patrick McGinnity a grateful recipient. The Eagles were dominant. The Magpies appeared to have hit back courtesy of Andrew Krakouer, until the big screen revealed that Andrew Embley had already taken the ball over the line, and one of the season's more controversial video referrals wiped the score out. And Collingwood's frustration was compounded when Andrew Gaff speared another damaging pass to Josh Hill, who converted from a tight angle. Gaff had a hand in the next, too, Kerr converting with ease on the run after being fed a handball by McGinnity, who was also doing plenty of damage. The situation was bordering on critical for the Pies."Rohan Connolly, The Age (16 September 2012), "Magpies get their reward": http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/magpies-get-their-reward-20120915-25zs8.html WAFL results '''Prelim finals (15 Sept) Swan Districts (Newman) vs East Fremantle (Brown, Dalziell, Stevens, Dick) Reserves: East Fremantle (Papertalk) vs Perth Grand Final (23 Sept) Claremont (Swift, Weedon, Stevenson, McGovern) def. East Fremantle (Brown, Dalziell, Stevens, Brennan, Dick). Former Eagles Chad Jones and James Thomson also won premiership medals. Reserves: Claremont (Neates, Hamp) def. East Fremantle Injury list In the lead-up to the round the following players were listed as injured: References http://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2012/041820120915.html http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2012/25/coll-v-wce 2012 F2 2012 F2 2012 F2